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Actually about 15% of all state/federal prisons are owned or managed by for-profit corporations. There are really two classifications of "for-profit" prisons. O
by jeffmould 11y ago
Actually about 15% of all state/federal prisons are owned or managed by for-profit corporations. There are really two classifications of "for-profit" prisons. One is where the company owns/operates the entire facility. These are the ones that receive the most attention even though they are the minority comparatively. The big for-profit companies usually try to buy first before moving to option 2.
The second option is where the state/county builds a prison or jail, owns the facility, possibly supplements some staffing, but contracts out the day-to-day operations to a for-profit company. This is what is more common as many states won't sell the actual facility and/or land. They just want someone to takeover the day-to-day operations so they don't have to worry about it.
Both are just as bad and both have occupancy based contracts.
- MichaelCrawford 11y agoThe incompetent medical and mental health care in the Clark County Jail in Vancouver, Washington is largely due to a contractor trying to save a few pennies by ordering prescription drugs from a pharmacy in Maryland. This has the result that lots of mentally ill inmates - including myself - land in Western State Hospital at a cost to the taxpayer of $550.00 per day. I've been taking psychiatric medicine since 1985; the very most I have ever paid for my happy pills was $1000.00 per month. Because the contractor wants to save perhaps ten dollars per month, every mentally ill inmate goes cold turkey on their medicine when they are detained. Every prescriber I have ever met adamantly urged me never to stop my medicine suddenly. There are all kinds of ways that could lead to death but in my particular case I find myself in a very expensive nuthouse rather than an inexpensive slammer.